Stories of Trees with Diana Wells

January 29, 2010

Tales of the Trees

Many people live on streets
with names like Maple, Elm, or Sycamore, and yet too few of us – especially
children – remember that these are tree names or know what these trees look
like. My guest on this week’s show is Diana Wells, author of the best-seller 100
Flowers and How They Got Their Names,
and a new work, Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History. I am always fascinated by the stories behind plants,
and feel that learning these intimate tales is a great way to ignite an
interest in the importance of living things like trees.

We
are all dependent on trees. Just think about that pencil in your hand, paper
your writing on while sitting at your wooden desk on your wooden chair. Then
there are foods such as avocados, apples, peaches, lemons, even maple syrup;
spices like cinnamon; and medicines like quinine.

I
learned so many things about trees in the book, for example, that ebony is
related to persimmon, why a horse chestnut is called a horse chestnut, and how
Hollywood got its name when hollies don’t even grow in Southern California. I
love the story of the shipwreck off the coast of Florida, when Cuban coconuts
on board floated to the beach and sprouted, and that the sailors who survived
later named the place “Palm Beach.” Who knew?

One
of the most fascinating trees in the book is the Welwitschiamirabilis from the Namib Desert, which only puts out two leaves that sit on the
desert floor and continue to grow for its entire life. How do we know this
plant is a tree? Because it has an underground trunk ten feet tall.

What’s
your favorite tall tree tale?

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